An electrical grid is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers. More specifically, the electrical grid is a vast, interconnected network of transmission lines, starting from a supplier of electricity to a consumer of the electricity. The consumer may be, for example, a personal consumer or an industrial consumer.
It has become increasingly important to manage the electrical grid, in order to more efficiently distribute electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. For example, the electrical grid has started to be connected to low or zero emission sources such as, e.g., windmills, hydropower plants and solar panels. In another example, electricity suppliers are providing discounted fees for off-peak electricity consumption, e.g., providing cost incentives to consumers for those using their appliances during off-peak times.
Also, it has become more vital to manage the electrical grid to distribute electricity in a more efficient manner. Electricity suppliers must often monitor their electrical grids for downed power lines and electrical faults to prevent such problems from disrupting electricity supply throughout the grids. For example, natural disasters or incidents, such as a tree falling on a power distribution line, may generate transient or sustained electrical faults in the electrical grids, thus causing temporary local or wide-area power outages. In order to provide reliable power, electricity suppliers must be able to detect such electrical faults.
However, electricity suppliers are often not provided with enough information regarding the electrical grid to effectively monitor the grid during power outages, peak demand times, etc. For example, electrical grid dispatchers may not be timely informed of abnormal conditions and/or electrical faults of electrical devices on the electrical grid until it is too late to prevent wide-area power outages. In addition, even when the electrical grid dispatchers are informed of an abnormal condition of a single electrical device, the dispatchers may be unable to adequately determine locations of abnormal conditions of electrical devices within an area of the electrical grid, since electrical grids can now include millions of electrical devices within an area.